Every day we focus on connecting children to the natural world, encouraging creativity, supporting each child's social-emotional wellness and preparing our students for success in school and life.  We do this through uninterrupted exploration and child-led play that uses natural and open ended materials, and teacher-led activities that are captivating, hands-on, developmentally appropriate and take advantage of the teachable moments that naturally arise each day.

Most days begin or end with a creative art experience. If we need to walk to our play area, we will enjoy some art while we wait for all the children to arrive.  These activities expose children to a wide variety of artistic mediums, help build fine motor skills, and encourage development of artistic skills and use of art as a creative outlet.

The children get a long block of time every morning to explore, play and engage with their peers.  We find a place where the children can have some freedom within established physical boundaries so that everyone can have fun, but be safe too.  We follow not just a "leave no trace" philosophy, but a "leave it better than you found it" approach to spending time in nature.

For those children who are over the age of five, we take two short breaks from free-play time, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, to focus on reading, writing and math skills.  This activity is done in a smaller group to ensure students receive the individual attention they need to learn faster, more deeply, more joyfully, and are prepared for first grade. 

By combining stories, songs, dances, games, puppet shows and musical instruments, the students learn academic concepts as well as social-emotional skills, creativity and environmental awareness. With our two experienced teachers, circle time may be divided and differentiated based on the ages, abilities, and interests of the enrolled students.

Kids get hungry playing in nature, so we enjoy an early 11:00 lunch time.  The children bring their own trash-free lunch and full, reusable water bottle and carry it in their backpack.  We eat on picnic tables or on the ground depending on the location.

After lunch the children participate in a group yoga and mindfulness session that includes breathing exercises and yoga asanas (postures) put to stories, games or songs, and a calming relaxation exercise or nature awareness activity to give us all a rest in order to be ready for the remainder of the day.

During all of our free-play segments, along with nature play the students have access to books, free art experiences, games and other activities and materials so they are able to choose activities based on their energy level or interest. 

The children take a break during our afternoon play time to enjoy a snack with friends. Each child brings their own snack from home.

Parents/caregivers join us for our closing circle during the final ten minutes to learn a little about what we did during the day and to help the children transition from school to home.